The Punch: Time to stop this nuclear nonsense

Time to stop this nuclear nonsense

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By Joseph Adeyeye

The Punch  10 Jan 2009

Import-dependent economies are certain to face the problems imported goods caused in their countries of origin. This paradigm is the prism through which I see the recent argument in some quarters that nuclear power plants are the solution to this country’s electricity crisis. This specious agenda, which died shortly after its birth during the Murtala-Obasanjo regime, but resurrected during the Obasanjo administration, is now gaining ground in the Yar‘Adua years.

However, someone needs to tell our rulers that building a nuclear power plant isn‘t the same as buying Made-in-China satellites. It is trite logic that a country that has problems keeping militants away from its pipelines; burglars and arsonists away from its government offices; and armed robbers away from governors’ convoys would certainly have problems keeping terrorists away from its nuclear reactors.

While working on a story on Nigeria’s nuclear agenda three years ago, the only place where I found a measure of support for the project was a government agency. The consensus among all the other scientists and civil society activists that I interviewed was that Nigeria, given her insecurity, porous borders, poor disaster management record and a sundry of other ills, had no business with nuclear plants.

The Punch: Time to stop this nuclear nonsense

Tags: nuclear, antinuclear, uranium, radioactive

January 12, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | spinbuster